Peter, Marcy, Jed, and Jay

Starting off 1979 with a one-page letter from me, in pencil, on lined three-hole-punched paper.

This is my second of only three letters that I wrote them entirely in cursive. My handwriting was pretty good by this point.

It’s been a while since I’ve listed everyone’s ages. Here are our ages in early 1979:

January 22, 1979

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

Thank you for the Tri-ominoes game that you sent me for Christmas. It’s just what I wanted, and now we have a new game to play.

Uncle John and Aunt Vicki sent us two things: a big book called “Spacecraft-2000 to 2100 A.D.”, which is a science fiction book about spaceships in the future, with color pictures for each one, and they also sent us a game called “Quest of the Magic Ring” that the main idea of it is taken from the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. We all really like the game.

Uncle David and Aunt Karen sent a small book of things to make and do to Joaquin and me, and Uncle Paul and Aunt Linda sent roller skates to Joaquin and me. They said in a letter that we could trade them in for money or anything else we wanted if we didn’t want the skates, and I got a string art design like the one we sent you, only much smaller.

My Grandma that lives in Philadelphia sent us all twenty-five dollars, part of which Marcy is using to take Joaquin and me to “The Barber of Seville”. Joaquin and I enjoyed a capsule version of it in school.

Speaking of school, last Thursday my teacher took me to a violin solo done by a girl she knows. I especially liked the Bartok folk songs.

I’ve been having a good time in school. A report card is coming up in February. Joaquin and I can see each other at recess anytime.

Love,

Jed

Notes

Spacecraft: 2000 to 2100 AD, by Stewart Cowley

For a bit more about this book, see the Terran Trade Authority website.

Quest of the Magic Ring

I remember liking this boardgame quite a bit, but I haven’t played it since I was a kid; dunno how well it would hold up.

Peter and Marcy read The Lord of the Rings aloud to us at some point around here, but I’m not sure exactly when.

Barber of Seville

I remember bits of the abridged version in school—I think actors from a local production were visiting schools to perform bits of it—but I don’t remember seeing the full show.

violin performance

I remember Mrs. Peters taking me to one or two classical-music performances, but I don’t recall the performances themselves. Before I read this letter, if you had asked me if I liked Bartok, I would have said I didn’t think I had heard any.